WASHINGTON, D.C. & ARMONK, N.Y. -- Amtrak and IBM today announced in a joint press release an agreement aimed at boosting Amtrak's information technology (IT) systems while cutting costs by about $85 million over a seven-year period.

Through the agreement, IBM Global Services will provide IT support to Amtrak focusing on improving the quality of service to Amtrak's 24,000 employees and over 23.5 million guests nationwide.

Amtrak has selected IBM to provide business recovery services, deliver help desk and desktop support services for 7,500 workstations nationwide, and to manage the company's voice and data networks including the systems at the corporation's three reservation call centers in Philadelphia, Chicago, and Riverside, California. IBM will also operate and service Amtrak's reservation system, Arrow, as well as the corporation's entire computing infrastructure from a data center in Manassas, Virginia.

Amtrak's Arrow reservation system processes as many as 3,300 transactions per minute via the Web, telephone, and ticket counter channels, making it one of the largest systems of its kind in the rail industry. As part of their agreement, Amtrak and IBM will work together to market the Arrow system to other transportation companies.

“Through this new contract with IBM, Amtrak now has a sole resource for IT support which will save the corporation millions of dollars while improving the consistency of service as well as the performance of our computer systems,” said Bob Galey, Amtrak's chief information officer. “Given its experience working with Amtrak and other leading transportation companies, IBM is uniquely equipped to help us establish an IT infrastructure that will directly affect the way we work while enhancing our ability to serve our guests.”

“IBM's scale of operations and expertise in running large, complex computer systems will help Amtrak address its current financial challenges,” said Dwayne Ingram, vice president, travel and transportation industries, IBM Global Services. “By selling its reservations system to other IBM customers, we can also help grow Amtrak's revenue.”

Amtrak elected to award a new contract to IBM following an in-depth evaluation of its computing infrastructure assisted by The Outsourcing Institute, a global sourcing advisory association. Providing legal advice and counsel was the law firm of Alston & Bird. The new $229 million agreement brings the total value of the Amtrak-IBM IT services relationship to about $330 million.

About Amtrak

Amtrak guests enjoy satisfaction-guaranteed service in more than 500 communities in 46 states throughout a 22,000-mile route system. Amtrak offers guests America's only high-speed rail service between Washington and Boston as well as a nationwide unconditional guest Satisfaction Guarantee. Last year, the company set all-time records for passenger ridership and overall revenue. For more information, including schedules, fares and reservations, visit Amtrak's Web site at www.amtrak.com .

About IBM Global Services

IBM Global Services is the world's largest information technology services provider, with approximately 150,000 professionals serving customers in 160 countries and annual revenue of $35 billion (2001). IBM Global Services integrates IBM's broad range of capabilities - services, consulting, hardware, software, and research - to help companies of all sizes realize the full value of information technology. For more information, visit www.ibm.com/services . For additional information on IBM's offerings for the passenger rail and other travel related market segments, please visit www.ibm.com/industries/transport .